ATLANTIC CITY

Atlantic City, New Jersey, August 19, 2009......Recently I traveled to Atlantic City, New Jersey, to see an air show that was performed over the ocean in front of the boardwalk. The show featured, among the many aviation demonstrations, the world famous United States Air Force's Thunder Birds.

The first thing, that needs to be said is that leaving the Garden State Parkway (toll road for passenger cars), the traffic is horrendous. Waiting two or three turns of a traffic light to get through some intersections. The roads really can't handle the volume of cars. There are not many signs to direct you to specific casinos. Just poorly laid out.

After riding up and down the streets, I decided to park at Resorts Casino parking garage (self parking). The guard rails inside the garage were painted yellow. The guard rails were dirty, and the garage was small about 1/4 of the size of any garage at the Mohegan Sun Casino or Foxwoods. The fee was twenty ($20.00) dollars. If you had a players card it was free. However, how does one get the card? Go in the casino and apply after you paid the $20.00. No refunds. Not a smart way to do business.

I visited three different casinos. The carpets were worn and in out of the way places needed to be cleaned. They were dirty. The casinos, the parking garage and the boardwalk need a good cleaning. Atlantic City looks like it needs some TLC. It looks like years of neglect is taking it's toll. If you want a tee shirt, they have them in the shops on the boardwalk for 4 for $10.00, They had go kart rides on the arcade pier for $8.00 per ride which lasted about five minutes. A lot of bottled water and soda were being sold by the vendors.

It was a weekday, business in the casinos, was slow despite a large crowd watching the airshow. It looked like the families, had come with their blankets, beach chairs, umbrellas, and coolers to enjoy the air show. it didn't seem they were there to gamble. When the Connecticut Sun have their WNBA games in the Mohegan Sun Arena, the crowd files out into their parked cars and leave. The fans of the Connecticut Sun don't seem to be gamblers.

The air conditioners were on super cool. It was about ninety five degrees outside. The air conditioning was a welcome relieve from the heat.

The ease of getting to and from the Mohegan Sun Casino via Route 2-A and Route I-395 and I-95 are a definite advantage. It is a very well designed system.

In Uncasville, Connecticut, the Mohegan Sun, is doing a better job of taking care of it's properties. The casinos in Connecticut are cleaner and bigger. What must be considered is that the Atlantic City Casinos are much older. Atlantic City which has not done very well in business in recent years, isn't putting money back into maintain their properties. The Mohegan Sun needs to cut spending to be profitable, but maintaining itself to look fresh and new is a delicate balance.

The lesson to be learned here is, that the Mohegan Sun can't cut maintaining it's property like Atlantic City seems to have done. It can only lead to the economic peril that Atlantic City seems to have occurring. What do you think?

EDITORIAL FOOTNOTE: The Thunder Birds were great.